


no one's gotta know, just us and the moon

by flow3rs



Series: intentions [3]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Idiots in Love, M/M, Rated M for language, Ricky Bowen Needs A Hug (HSM: The Series), Ricky is BABY, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, ashlyn centric, ashlyn is the best cousin, change my mind, ej is bad at feeling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flow3rs/pseuds/flow3rs
Summary: ashlyn is a very observant person. she prides herself on minding her own business. she may be quiet but she sees everything; she knows everything. she may not spill the tea, but she’s perfectly content with keeping it in her kettle until the whistle blows when it’s ready.and oh, is it about to blow.orashlyn notices something has changed between ej and ricky.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/E.J. Caswell
Series: intentions [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685080
Comments: 13
Kudos: 166





	no one's gotta know, just us and the moon

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to everyone that has supported this series so far, it means the world to me <3
> 
> title from 'lowkey' by niki
> 
> i highly suggest listening to 'cyber sex' by doja cat during the party scene. you're welcome.
> 
> ashlyn caswell stans pls rise. this one's for you xoxo

as much as they bickered, as much as they got on each other’s nerves, as much as they beat each other to a pulp over stupid things; ashlyn and ej loved each other. 

ej was like a brother to her; she cared about him and would ride for him until the day she died.

but that didn’t mean she ignored the fact that he could be a total _fuckboy_ . an asshole. a douchebag, if you will. or as the british say, a _twat_.

she was well aware of the fact that ej had the emotional range of a teaspoon and was constantly putting himself before other people, even if he didn’t mean to.

so that’s why, for the best interest of _ricky_ , and not her own nosiness (though she would admit that she was extremely curious), she needed to find out what ej and ricky were up to. she was doing this for ricky’s _emotional security_. but if she got some good tea from it, she wouldn’t complain.

observant as she was, she began to notice a change in the two boys since that encounter with ricky at breakfast.

for instance, when the auditions for the spring production of _heathers: the musical_ came around, everyone seemed to be panicking in the dressing rooms, rehearsing the songs and monologues they were auditioning with. ricky who was notoriously a nervous wreck with most things in his life, was especially nervous for his audition, despite playing troy in their last production of high school musical. this was only his second time doing anything related to theatre, after all.

ashlyn watched ricky from afar, noticing his hands were shaking as he held his script, going over the lines over and over again in his head, mumbling the words to himself as his knee bounced anxiously. she also noticed her cousin sitting beside the junior, going over his own lines. she was about to look away when she caught ej darting out a hand and placing it on ricky’s knee to stop his bouncing. as ashlyn kept watching discreetly, she expected ej to take his hand away after the other boy stopped his anxious habit, when she instead saw her cousin squeeze the other’s knee and begin caressing him with his thumb.

_oh_ . ashlyn looked away quickly to focus on rehearsing her own lines. but her mind kept drifting back to the intimate gesture she witnessed between the two boys. it was _quite_ caring for two people who claimed to “hate” each other.

ashlyn saved that small interaction in the back of her brain for future reference.

(ricky and ej ended up getting the roles of kurt and ram, a.k.a. the dead gay sons.)

((ashlyn didn’t think it was a coincidence.))

*****

**HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL CAST LIST:**

  * **veronica sawyer -** ashlyn caswell


  * **jason dean** \- seb matthew-smith


  * **heather chandler** \- gina porter


  * **heather mcnamara** \- nini salazar-roberts


  * **heather duke** \- kourtney renee


  * **ram sweeney** \- e.j. caswell


  * **kurt kelley** \- ricky bowen


  * **dance captain** \- carlos rodriguez



to celebrate the cast list going up for _heathers_ , carlos decided to host a watch party of the movie and off-broadway production so that everyone could get more familiar with the musical.

ashlyn was extremely excited to have her first lead in a production at east high and everyone was so happy for seb as he also landed his first lead role, due to how good his range in acting was. big red had gotten the position of head stage manager too, which he was eager to start. the cast was the perfect group of people to hang out with everyday after school so the group were all excited about the memories they were going to make soon.

they all convened into carlos’ living room, ashlyn, big red, nini, ricky, and ej all squeezing onto the couch while seb, carlos, gina, and kourtney all sat below on the rug.

the 80s movie starring winona ryder played in front of them as they all passed around bowls of popcorn and sour patch kids. ashlyn was focused on the screen, cuddled up with big red when she noticed some movement from the other end of the couch, where ej sat next to ricky.

she subtly looked over to see ej slowly stretch his arm across the back of the couch behind ricky. _the classic stretch and yawn move,_ she thought to herself. but then ej did something that surprised her, gently placing his hand on the back of ricky’s neck and stroking the curly hairs at the nape of the other boy’s neck. her eyes widened as she looked away, trying to remember something she read in seventeen magazine once.

if she recalled correctly, which she always did because she’s iconic, the psychologist writing for the magazine stated that when a guy puts his hand on the back of someone’s neck it means he’s being possessive towards them, not necessarily in a bad way, but basically saying that that person was _his._

take that information as you please.

just another thing ashlyn would have to tick down on her list of things kept in the back of her brain.

(she looked away before she could see ricky leaning into ej’s touch.)

*****

rehearsals were finally starting up for the musical and everyone felt the energy buzzing in the practice rooms from day one.

it surprised everyone how much chemistry ashlyn and seb had as the leads (sometimes carlos and big red would even get jealous), but they were both just so talented that they couldn’t help but work perfectly together.

the trio of girls playing the heathers was also fantastic, as the three strong women exuded bad bitch energy wherever they sang and danced. it was especially nice to see how much nini’s confidence had risen since her last role.

ricky and ej as kurt and ram, however, were a goddamn _disaster._

they weren’t bad actors, or singers or even dancers, not at all.

they were, however, _terrible_ at focusing when they were anywhere near each other. which, unfortunately for everyone else, was _literally all the time_.

“it'd be so righteous to be in a veronica sawyer-heather chandler sandwich. punch it in, ram,” ricky exclaimed, imitating a valley/california accent for his role.

“oh, hell yes. i wanna set a heather on my johnson and just start spinnin’ her around like a goddamn pinwheel,” ej tried to reply in character before both boys burst out laughing.

“jesus christ, the shit these guys say!” ricky snickered, hunched over laughing while ej tried to catch his breath next to him, holding onto the other boy’s back as his abs began to hurt from how hard he was laughing.

no one else around them was amused, however, as they were wasting precious rehearsal time.

miss jenn sighed, defeated, before snapping, “okay, let’s take a ten!”

as everyone took their breaks, miss jenn pulled big red by the collar roughly to whisper “did i make a terrible decision casting these boys as these characters?”

“i’d like to think not,” big red gulped, looking nervous.

“well, then please tell your two friends that they need to start _focusing_ on the script instead of just _each other_. or else i’m gonna have to find two new dead gay sons!” she released big red, before leaving the classroom to calm down.

ashlyn didn’t miss what her drama teacher had said, and she looked over at the two boys joking around with each other on the other side of the room. it seemed like everything ej said was funny as ricky was laughing, eyes crinkled, everytime the senior spoke. in fact, the whole time ashlyn was watching the pair interact, they never took their eyes off of each other.

_huh. interesting._

ricky left for a bathroom break and ashlyn took the opportunity to go talk to her cousin.

“ej, what’s up with you lately? you’re usually dead focused when it comes to theatre. you used to smack me upside the head when i would cough during rehearsals because you said it was distracting. now all you do is goof around with ricky and not take anything seriously.”

ej sighed. “i don’t know, ash. ricky’s just fun to be around, i guess. i didn’t even realize it was affecting anyone else.”

“you haven’t noticed that we’ve been doing the same scene for three days?”

“you know, i did notice that but i kinda just thought it was because everyone else sucked.”

ashlyn rolled her eyes. “you and ricky are the _only one’s_ in this scene, dumbass. you’re the one’s that suck.”

“well, shit.”

“look, i heard miss jenn mumbling about recasting you guys and i don’t think anyone is ready for that stress. so you both better get your act together or your last production as a high schooler will be over,” she commanded, leaving ej sitting there to think about his behavior.

when ricky came back after going to the bathroom, ashlyn watched as ej lead him by the hand to talk to him outside. she prayed to god they were actually going to talk about the musical.

(they did. but not before ej got distracted by ricky’s lips which led to making out in the drama room closet for three minutes.)

*****

no one really knew whose house they were at or whose party this was, but what they did know is that they were gonna get _plastered_ tonight.

carlos and seb started a dance circle in the middle of the living room while gina, nini, and kourtney, were going wild, hyping them up from the sidelines. ricky and big red were winning at beer pong against ashlyn and ej (who had shared a joint on the way there).

all the theatre kids pregamed together, and they might as well have had their own party with how much they all drank.

ricky didn’t even know how he was winning beer pong when he could barely see straight. he lost count of how many shots he took at the pregame and then they got to the _actual_ party and he drank who knows how many cups of jungle juice. he was on his way to being properly shitfaced.

he swayed as he threw the ping pong ball and miraculously it landed into the last cup on ej and ashlyn’s side. big red cheered and hugged him, jumping up and down excitedly as the cousins held their middle fingers up to them.

big red pulled ashlyn by the arm to dance as a new song came on through the speakers. she turned around to see ricky following, but the boy could barely keep his balance, tripping over his own feet and falling into ej’s arms.

ej wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist, steadying him. he looked down at the boy in his arms, who was smiling at him goofily, cheeks flushed from all the alcohol and words slurring.

“hi,” ricky said, holding on to ej’s neck to keep his balance.

ej smiled endearingly, “hey.”

“you’re so hot.”

“yeah?” ej smirked, fondly. drunk words are sober thoughts, he guessed.

meanwhile, ashlyn was pretending not to pay attention to every part of the pair’s exchange, eyes wide and ready to catch anything the two boys did. she may have been high, but that didn’t make her any less observant. she couldn’t believe that _none_ of the other theatre kids had noticed the position ej and ricky were in.

the song changed once again, this time ‘cyber sex’ by doja cat playing.

“oh my god i loooove this song. come dance with meeee,” ricky slurred, pulling ej into the dance circle with their friends. 

“since when did you like _doja cat_? i always thought you were more of a john mayer type,” but the senior went and danced with the group anyway.

“she’s my guilty pleasureeeee. kinda like you!” ricky replied, holding ej’s hands and swaying to the music. he started singing the lyrics while looking into ej’s eyes flirtatiously.

_“i wanna touch on you. you see me in my room. wish you were here right now,”_ he smirked and pulled ej closer, their noses brushing, “ _all of the things i’d do…_ ”

ashlyn was quaking. like. quite literally _quaking in her boots._ she could not believe what she was seeing. and she could not _believe_ that every other person in their friend group was too drunk to notice.

ej was starting to noticeably breathe heavier, eyes darting to ricky’s lips as he continued singing to the older boy.

“ _i wanna get freaky on camera, i love when we get freaky on camera.”_

ej looked like he was about to risk it _all_ on that dance floor, wide eyes and mouth hanging open as ricky turned around and began to dance on the other boy. ashlyn’s eyes widened at the same time as ej’s did, taking in the sight of the smaller boy moving his hips and grinding his ass on him. ricky leaned back, resting the back of his head on ej’s shoulder while taking the older boy’s hands and placing them on his hips.

_oh. so ricky was_ **_drunk_ ** _drunk,_ ashlyn thought to herself as she pretended to dance to the new song playing while she was actually watching the boys. suddenly carlos popped up from his position in the dance circle where he was throwing it back.

“oh okay ricky! i fucking see you, bitch! go off and shake that ass!” he said, pretending to throw air dollars at ricky as if he were a stripper.

everyone in the group started cheering, too drunk to care that the person ricky was dancing on was _ej_ . the younger boy found it all extremely entertaining in his drunk state, sticking his tongue out cheekily and bending over while essentially _twerking_ on ej.

“whew, chile! who knew this scrawny white boy could throw ass like that!” kourtney screamed, hyping him up. everyone laughed and went back to dancing, but ashlyn saw ej pull ricky out of the circle and lead him into the hallway a few feet away where no one would see them. she discreetly danced her way out of the circle and hid behind a house plant so she could eavesdrop.

ej leaned against the wall of the hallway, holding ricky in his arms as the younger boy wrapped his own arms around ej’s neck, standing in between the other boy’s legs and leaning on him for support.

“why’d we stop dancing?” ricky whined, pouting at the senior.

“how much did you drink?”

“uhhhh, i don’t know. i lost count after the….seventh shot of tequila.”

“jesus,” ej mumbled. “i think this party’s over for you, okay? you’re being a little too wild out there on the dance floor.”

“don’t act like you didn’t like it, babe,” the younger boy giggled, peppering kisses onto ej’s cheeks and planting one on his lips.

_holy shit. holy shit. holy shit._ ashlyn’s heart was beating a mile a minute. how could she not have figured it out sooner! they were a _thing._ this whole time ej and ricky were a _thing!_

ej pushed the stray hairs away from ricky’s face, placing his hand on the other boy’s cheek and stroking it with his thumb, “you’re too drunk, okay? we should just go home.”

“you’re being so _boooooring_ , tonight. don’t you remember i was drunk the first time we hooked up?”

“yeah, but not this drunk.”

“what’s the difference?” but hugged ej’s middle and followed him anyway when the older began guiding him towards the exit.

ashlyn slid out from behind the house plant as they passed by. “ej!”

“holy shit! were you always behind that plant?”

“does it matter? look, i don’t want you guys walking home alone. i’ll come with,” she pointed at ricky slumped against ej’s side, eyes beginning to droop. “he looks like he’s about to pass out anyway.”

the cousins quickly said goodbyes to their friends, everyone wondering if ricky was okay, the pair just telling the group he had thrown up and wanted to go home. the trio walked the few blocks to the caswell residence as quickly as possible, ricky being supported by the senior boy most of the walk and occasionally requesting a piggy back ride. (which ej gave until his back started hurting.)

right before the small group reached the house, ricky declared, “i’m gonna fucking throw up.”

and then proceeded to fucking throw up on the sidewalk right outside of the caswell house, ej stroking his hair and rubbing his back the whole time while ashlyn ran inside to grab a water bottle and paper towels.

when the younger boy finished, he sat on the sidewalk with his head in his hands, sipping the water graciously.

“can we go to sleep now?” ricky asked quietly, looking up at the other brunette. he wasn’t fully sobered up yet, which meant he would probably have to throw up again in the morning.

“of course.”

the younger boy lifted his arms up, reaching for ej. “can you carry me?”

the senior laughed, before scooping ricky up in his arms, carrying the younger boy bridal style into the house. ashlyn waited in the kitchen, as ej deposited ricky into his bed and wrapped the boy up in his blankets.

“you can use my mouthwash, if you want,” ej said, gently, getting up to leave before ricky grabbed him by the wrist.

“you’re not gonna stay?” ricky asked with puppy dog eyes.

ej sighed fondly and sat on the edge of the bed, once again lovingly running his fingers through the brown curly hair. “i’ll be back in a few minutes. you can start sleeping without me.”

“but it’s easier to sleep when you’re next to me.”

his heart did somersaults. god, ej hoped that wasn’t the alcohol talking. he almost said ‘fuck it’ and got in the bed right then and there, but he knew he owed his cousin an explanation. he settled for placing a small kiss onto ricky’s lips, instead. “don’t worry, i’ll be here for the rest of the night.”

“yay,” the junior smiled, drifting off to sleep, holding ej’s squirtle plushie close to his chest before adding, “ew. you kissed me and i just threw up.”

ej whispered, hoping ricky was too drunk and sleepy to hear him as he stepped out of the room. “i’d kiss you no matter what.”

*****

the two cousins sat across from each other in their kitchen, looking at each other awkwardly behind cups of water and waiting for the other to speak first. ashlyn took one more sip of her water before finally getting tired of their clownery.

“so.”

“so?” ej asked, innocently.

“you know what i’m going to ask, ej.”

ej sighed. “so then ask.”

“what the _fuck_ is going on between you and ricky?”

“we’re just...hooking up. friends-with-benefits.”

“that’s it?”

“that’s it.”

“i know i don’t have as much experience with hooking up with people as you do but i feel like when you’re _just_ _friends_ with someone you don’t go around intimately pushing the hair out of their face and stroking their cheek like you’re in romeo and juliet.”

“jesus christ, how long were you watching us?!?”

“that’s not that point! i’ve been keeping an eye on the two of you for a while. i see the way you look at each other. i see the way you guys touch each other. i _know_ you guys are not _just friends._ ”

ej held his face in his hands, not wanting to be part of this conversation anymore. “do you always have to read me to fucking filth?”

“it’s kind of my job,” she shrugged, taking another sip of water.

“look...i don’t even know what me and ricky really are. we’ve never talked about it and we have a good thing going on so i don’t wanna ruin anything.”

she raised an eyebrow at her cousin, looking at him over the edge of her glass knowingly. “you don’t wanna ruin anything because...you like him?”

“i never said that.”

“you implied it.”

“fucking christ,” he rolled his eyes exasperated. “okay whatever! maybe i like him! but just because i like him doesn’t mean he’s not still the most annoying person on the planet. i mean for fuck’s sake the kid uses up all my goddamn mouthwash! and he likes _pancakes_ more than waffles. i mean, what kind of psycho is he! and don’t get me started on his nervous ticks. i swear i’ve never seen anyone bounce their leg more than him. i can’t wait for the day it fucking flies off. and his stupid curly hair that’s always in his stupid face. you know, whenever he’s hungry he just _looks at me_ with that stupid face like i’m supposed to understand what he wants. stupid fucking puppy dog eyes, stupid stupid stupid...”

he trailed off, realizing how fucked he was, and put his face back in his hands, embarrassed. peeking through his fingers he saw ashlyn shaking her head at him, amused.

“so you _like_ like him.”

ej gave up trying to hide his feelings. “...yeah. i _like_ like him.”

ashlyn started screaming excitedly, jumping up and down like a fangirl before ej shushed her and reminded her that there was a sleeping boy down the hall.

“i am so sorry. i’ve just never seen you act like this towards someone. you _care_ about him!” she squealed, holding her hands to her heart.

“you act like it’s a miracle for me to care about someone!”

her face turned serious as she deadpanned. “ej, you hit me in the face yesterday because i _made you food_.”

“and?”

“you are such an asshole.”

they stuck their tongues out at each other like they were children and laughed.

“on a serious note though,” ashlyn started, “if you do anything to hurt that boy i will kill you.”

ej laughed, not taking her seriously. “okay, ashlyn.”

“look at me. look me in the eye.”

he cautiously did as he was told, eyes wide and confused. “hello?”

“you know you can be a terrible person sometimes, right?”

“...yes?”

“don’t be a terrible person to ricky. he doesn’t deserve it. don’t hurt him like you’ve hurt people in your past. or i will hurt _you_. i mean it,” she crossed her arms, hoping she got her message across.

“i won’t. i promise,” ej looked down at his hands, suddenly shy. “ricky’s not like the people in the past. it feels different with him.”

ashlyn softened. “i can tell that it’s different with you guys. now go back to your room and cuddle with that boy!” she teased, shooing him away.

the pair hugged, ashlyn shaking her head fondly as she watched her cousin head back to his bedroom.

now _this_ was some good tea.

*****

BONUS SCENE:

ashlyn unlocked the door to her house, coming back a little early from her choir practice. she was tired as hell from singing all day and was excited to finally take a fucking _nap_ . however, when she got in the house she could hear the tv in the living room with the volume at what seemed like full blast as it was _so. fucking. loud._ irritated that ej was probably watching a movie obnoxiously loud for no reason, she walked into the living room ready to scream at her cousin when the sight before her stopped her in her tracks.

there was a movie playing on the tv. but there was also ej and ricky cuddled up together on the couch sleeping, ej on his back with his arm wrapped around the younger boy, and ricky on top of him, his face snuggled in the senior’s neck and arm resting on his chest.

ashlyn almost cried at what she saw. she had never seen anything so cute in her goddamn life.

grabbing the remote for the tv, she carefully turned it off and took her phone out of her pocket. as discreetly as she could, she raised her camera and took a picture of the peaceful boys.

she inspected her work, and once again, almost cried. the golden light of the sun setting radiated from the living room windows and was hitting their faces perfectly and the couple almost looked like they had small smiles on their faces.

she sneaked quietly to her own bedroom before placing a filter on the photo and texting it to ej.

**_a$h money:_ ** _Sent an attachment._

**_a$h money:_ ** _just in case you ever need a new phone background :)_

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> so...someone explain to me why kourtney is the only character in this whole show with no damn last name lmao i just used dara's actual last name tf
> 
> also i know they're doing beauty and the beast next season, but let me fulfill my dream of seeing these characters portray heathers characters. if you haven't watched the movie or musical, i highly suggest you do that bc it is god tier
> 
> also the picture ashlyn takes of them is inspired by this iconic pic of lj and peter kavinsky :') : https://bit.ly/2XjOUve
> 
> spotify playlist inspired by this fic: https://spoti.fi/34kHl8R


End file.
